The desktop of a Windows PC has always been the flagship of Microsoft, so simple to use yet so versatile and customizable. Although many years have passed, you can still write and talk about the many ways of organizing windows, with many hidden tricks and tools that help you work faster.
Whichever version of Windows you are using, we see here at least 8 tricks to organize Windows windows on the desktop.
READ ALSO: How to maximize and iconise windows and programs
1) Snap of windows side by side
Starting with Windows 7, moving one window on one side and the other on the other side of the screen, they are automatically placed side by side.
The trick is really very useful to put one window next to another quickly and quickly, perhaps to transfer files from one folder to another or to write a document having a source of information in front of your eyes from a website.
Dragging the two windows by pressing on its title with the left mouse button, hold down and move left or right until the perimeter of the window adapted to the edge appears.
You can also snap windows by pressing the Windows + Left Arrow or Right Arrow keys together.
With Windows 10, this functionality has been significantly improved and it is also possible to arrange 4 windows at the 4 corners of the screen, all side by side on a 4 × 4 grid.
You can also have a wide window at the top halfway up the screen and two at the bottom at the two corners.
The arrangement can be done with the mouse or using the Windows key + up, down, right and left arrow keys.
In Windows 10 there is also a function called Snap Assist for which, by dragging a window to one corner of the screen or to the side, the preview of another open window will appear as if to suggest the user to position it at the other corner to keep it in view.
By pressing on it, the window automatically positions itself and resizes itself.
These functions are enabled by default, but you can disable them from Windows 10 Settings, in the System -> Multitasking section .
2) Windows Peek, to see the desktop preview under the windows
Another feature introduced in Windows 7 is Peek, to temporarily display the desktop or a specific window.
To control the desktop on the fly, without lowering all the windows, just move the mouse cursor to the lower right corner of the screen.
The same can be done by pressing the Windows + bar keys together in Windows 7 or Windows +, in Windows 10.
You can activate or deactivate this function in Windows 10 by pressing the right mouse button on the taskbar and then going to Properties, where the option " Show preview to display desktop appearance .... " appears .
As we obviously know, pressing the Windows-D keys you can go to the desktop and iconize all the windows together.
Peek can also be used to view a window without actually clicking it.
If there are many windows open, move the mouse over its icon in the taskbar and then move it to its preview to see, at that moment and without clicking anything, only that window and not the others that go into hiding.
Moving the mouse out of the view returns as before.
3) 3D scrolling / Activity view
A unique feature of Windows Vista and 7 is 3D scrolling which has since been removed in Windows 8 and 10.
Then pressing the Windows + Tab keys you can see all the superimposed windows in 3D and scroll them by moving the mouse wheel.
In Windows 10, pressing the Windows + TAB keys opens the activity view or Task View, to see all the windows open at that moment side-by-side, with the possibility of clicking the preview to switch to that window.
In Task View mode you can click on the cross next to each window to close it.
From this screen you can also add and manage virtual desktops, which we will see in point 5.
By default, in Windows 10 there is a Task View button on the taskbar.
This button can be removed by pressing the right mouse button on the taskbar, removing the selection from the Show Activity View button .
4) ALT + TAB
The shortcut ALT + TAB in Windows has always been there since the first version and allows you to quickly switch between the various open windows.
Press and hold ALT + TAB, then continue to press TAB to scroll through the windows and release the ALT key to switch to the highlighted window.
This function can be particularly useful when you have to switch from one window to another quickly while writing a document, without having to touch the mouse.
You can also press the ALT + Shift + TAB combinations to move between the windows in the opposite direction or press ALT + CTRL + TAB to open the window switcher without having to keep the keys pressed.
READ ALSO: All the ways to use Alt + Tab to switch from one window to another
5) Virtual desktops
All non-Windows operating systems have always had virtual desktops that Microsoft has finally added only in Windows 10.
This function allows you to have multiple desktops with different windows open, to have different environments organized according to the purpose.
To create virtual desktops in Windows 10 you need to press the Windows + TAB keys to enter Task View and then click on the lower right on New desktop .
From the Activity Viewer you can then switch from one desktop to another quickly.
You can also switch from one desktop to another by pressing the Windows keys + Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow together .
To create a virtual desktop you can also just press the key combination Windows + CTRL + D.
With Windows + Ctrl + F4 you can close the current desktop.
On a PC with a Windows version earlier than Windows 10, you can install a program to have virtual desktops, such as VirtuaWin and Dexpot.
6) Close windows quickly
To close a window ultra fast you must press the ALT + F4 keys.
As seen in the past, you can also use a program to have the ability to close everything with a single button.
7) Tricks to organize the desktop taskbar
The taskbar allows you to access the Start menu, open programs and the notification area.
As seen in another article, there are many ways to customize the Windows taskbar.
8) Shake of a window
If you have a lot of windows open and you want to do a quick cleaning making them disappear (without closing them) all but one, there is a really fun trick: press with the left mouse button on the title of the window you want to keep in view, hold down and move quickly left and right as if to shake and shake it until it remains the only one visible.
In addition to these, in other articles we have seen many other tricks such as:
- 10 Windows tricks that you must use and know on your PC
- Simple tricks to better use Windows
- New and important key combinations in Windows 10
Move and move windows on Windows with the keyboard and additional programs (if you are not using Windows 10).
